The Families Deserve Justice

Every New Yorker sends their thoughts and prayers to those family members and friends who stood in the rain in Belle Harbor and cried for their loved ones who died on Flight 587 one year ago.

A year later, it still helps for those in anguish to gather and seek comfort in each other's company. Grief unites us in our shared quest to ease our sorrow by honoring and remembering those who were lost. Some of the victims were headed south for a vacation with friends and family. Some were headed to their homes in the Dominican Republic. And all are deeply missed by those who loved them and mourned them in today's memorial service.

A total of 260 people were on board the flight and five
died on the ground at the corner of Beach 131 Street and Newport Avenue.
We remember watching smoke rise from one ofNew York's neighborhoods. And with our nerves still raw from what had occurred on September 11th, the site of another plane crash in our city meant that parents, spouses, children, and friends would be mourning even more lives taken before their time.

On this anniversary, I want the families to know that I
will continue to work with them until we find the answers as to why this
happened. Two weeks ago, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
concluded their preliminary hearings. The families were an important part of
that process and they must be in close contact with the NTSB until the investigation is complete. The
families should play
a vital role in the search for answers because they intimately understand the paramount importance of achieving our common goal -- finding out what happened so that this kind of tragedy never happens again.